32-606: The Stewartry Museum is a local museum in Kirkcudbright , Scotland , which covers the history of this part of Galloway . The museum was originally founded in 1879 and housed on the top floor of Kirkcudbright Town Hall . The museum moved to its current building designed by architect Robert Wallace, in 1893 due to the increasing size of the museum collection. The museum was maintained by the Stewartry Museum Association until 1990 when control of both
64-402: A royal burgh . About a century later, the magistrates of the town obtained permission from Queen Mary to use part of the convent and nunnery as a parish church. From around 1570, Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie, the chief magistrate, received a charter for the site, its grounds and gardens. MacLellan dismantled the church in order to obtain material for his new castle , a very fine house, which
96-517: A 1980 BBC adaptation of Ibsen 's An Enemy of the People , shot on location in Kirkcudbright. Matt McGinn wrote and recorded "The Wee Kirkcudbright Centipede" which has also been covered by other singers including Alistair McDonald on disc and on his BBC Scotland show Songs of Scotland , which included a segment filmed on location at the town's Johnston Primary School where McDonald led
128-580: A green rather than yellow colour", however they were of the opinion that aside from the roof the building was in good condition. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland was created in 1908 to preserve Scotland's historic buildings. Several buildings were already under state care, and as part of this growing concern to preserve standing buildings twenty buildings (eight of them castles) were taken into state care between 1911 and 1913. MacLellan's Castle counted among these – it
160-620: A purpose-built site. It contains the local and natural history of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. Britain's earliest surviving sporting trophy, the Siller Gun, is part of the collection. The Tolbooth building is now used as an arts centre. Kirkcudbright has for long been a centre for visual artists and is now known as "the Artists' Town". The main routes into the town include brown tourist signs saying "Artists' Town". Kirkcudbright
192-606: Is a Category B listed building. It has since been converted into the Kirkcudbright Galleries, a new facility which was opened by the Princess Royal on 12 July 2018. The war memorial dates from 1921 and was created by the sculptor George Henry Paulin . Like many other remote areas during the Second World War, a 4,700-acre (19 km ) area to the southeast of the town and extending to
224-466: Is a fictionalised version of William Stewart MacGeorge , Crockett's boyhood friend. The later whodunit Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers also involves the artistic community of Kirkcudbright. In 1975, the book was made into a BBC TV drama series shot in the town, with Ian Carmichael playing the lead role of Lord Peter Wimsey . The town also provided locations for the cult 1973 horror film The Wicker Man . Robert Urquhart starred in
256-549: Is a recipient of finds from the Treasure Trove scheme. The Stewartry also houses a significant archive relating to local, family, civic, and social history, including early modern Borough Records with references to numerous witch-trials and attendant incarcerations in Kirkcudbright Tolbooth . The numerous bygones and natural history specimens from local fresh and saltwater habits are a well loved aspect of
288-586: Is a town at the mouth of the River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie . A former royal burgh , it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire . An early rendition of the name of the town was Kilcudbrit; this derives from the Gaelic Cille Chuithbeirt meaning "chapel of Cuthbert ", the saint whose mortal remains were kept at
320-555: Is an 18th-century town house standing on the High Street. It was the home of Scots impressionist artist Edward Atkinson Hornel between 1901 and his death in 1933. The National Trust for Scotland maintain the house and its contents as a museum of Hornel's life and work. The Stewartry Museum was founded in 1879 and was at first based in the Town Hall until it became too small to house the collections. The collection moved to
352-401: Is embellished with an additional tower attached to the southwest corner, and projections on the inner angle where the two wings meet. The four-storey castle has a kitchen on the ground floor and a great hall on the first for entertaining guests. The upper floors most likely provided accommodation. Behind the fireplace in the great hall is a peephole and on the other side is a small room dubbed
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#1732790132155384-450: Is home to an artists' collective which has a shop in the town centre, The PA, Professional Artists Collective. Wasps (Workshop & Artists Studio Provision Scotland) occupy two linked townhouses, Canonwalls and Claverhouse, in the High Street. It is also a centre in which many artists open their studios during Spring Fling Open Studios . The Kirkcudbright Arts & Crafts Trail takes place every summer. This four-day event, finishing on
416-566: The Tour of Britain 2019 ended in Kirkcudbright on 7 September. The winner was Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen . MacLellan%27s Castle MacLellan's Castle in the town of Kirkcudbright , in Galloway, Scotland , was built in the late 16th century. It stands in the centre of Kirkcudbright, on the south side of the River Dee which flows into the Solway Firth . The L-plan castle
448-512: The Liverpool sculptor Sean Rice (1931–1997), modern stained glass by the Polish artist Jerzy Faczynski (1917–1994) and a set of four paintings by Vivien K. Chapman depicting The Passion of Christ. The Kirkcudbright Railway opened in 1864 but the railway line and station closed in 1965. Kirkcudbright Town Hall was designed by architects Peddie and Kinnear . It was completed in 1879 and
480-521: The Stewartry. In 2020 the building was refurbished as a Community Activity and Resource Centre. The building is Listed Category B. St Andrew's and St Cuthbert's Church was designed in 1886 by London architect A. E. Purdie (1843–1920), in the Gothic style. It was built on the site of the medieval St Andrew's Church. In 1971 the interior was re-ordered and stripped of its Victorian fixtures and fittings and now features an abstract concrete and iron cross by
512-730: The children in a dance sequence. Kirkcudbright has had a long association with the Glasgow art movement. Several artists, including the Glasgow Boys and the famed Scottish Colourists , such as Samuel Peploe and Francis Cadell , based themselves in the area over a 30-year period from 1880 to 1910, establishing the Kirkcudbright Artists' Colony . Also among those who moved here from Glasgow were Edward Hornel , George Henry and Jessie M. King . Later another small group of Glasgow-trained artists built their studios across
544-617: The coast of the Solway Firth , was acquired by the Army in 1942, as a training area for the D-Day invasion. The area remains in active use for live-firing exercises. Part of the training area is the Dundrennan Range , a weapons development and testing range. The use of this range for the testing of depleted uranium shells has been controversial. The range also contains a surviving A39 Tortoise heavy assault tank. Broughton House
576-555: The first Monday in August, allows visitors to see artists' studios and visit places that are normally off-limits to visitors. Galleries in Kirkcudbright include Kirkcudbright Galleries, in the former Town Hall on St Mary Street, and the Harbour Cottage Gallery. The 1907 novel Little Esson by S. R. Crockett is a romantic mystery involving the artistic community of Kirkcudbright. The title character Archibald Esson
608-533: The meeting place of Kirkcudbrightshire County Council from its creation in 1890 until 1952 when the council moved its meeting place to County Buildings . The Johnston School was one of the town's two primary schools, until it was merged with Castledykes Primary School in 2009, the new School called Kirkcudbright Primary School being housed in a new building. The school was endowed with a bequest by Kirkcudbright merchant and shipowner William Johnston (1769–1845) and opened in 1847 as Johnston's Free School. The building
640-521: The museum and the building passed to Stewartry District Council. After the Scottish councils were reorganised in 1996, management of the museum was passed to Dumfries and Galloway Council . Collections chiefly relate to the human and natural history of the Stewartry, also known as Kirkcudbrightshire. The museum, and the companion art venue Kirkcudbright Galleries , house two nationally Recognised Collections of art and archaeology. The museum houses one of
672-834: The museum. In 2015 the museum put a lens from Little Ross lighthouse on display for the first time. It was made in Paris by the French company, Barbier, Benard, et Turenne in 1896 and was used by the lighthouse until 1960. It was donated to the museum by the Northern Lighthouse Board in 2004. The museum also has casts made from rock art carvings at High Banks Farm which has several groups of cup and ring marks . The collection also has slabs with cup and ring marks from Blackmyre and Laggan. Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( / k ɜːr ˈ k uː b r i / kur- KOO -bree ; Scottish Gaelic : Cille Chùithbeirt )
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#1732790132155704-600: The oldest surviving sports trophies in the United Kingdom called the Siller Cup. Objects illustrative of the folklore, traditional crafts, and agricultural life of the area are also displayed here. Archaeological collections include significant Mesolithic and Neolithic holdings of barbed arrow heads, axe heads and other material from the Early Medieval and later periods - including Viking weaponry. The Museum
736-558: The river at The Stell, including John Charles Lamont and Robert Sivell . Landscape painter Charles Oppenheimer moved to Kirkcudbright in 1908. He is given credit along with artist Dorothy Nesbitt for protecting the Harbour Cottage (art) Gallery from demolition in 1956. Kirkcudbright became known as "the artists' town". Other artists include: Local TV coverage is provided by BBC Reporting Scotland on BBC One & ITV News Lookaround on ITV1 . Radio stations that broadcast
768-667: The town are BBC Radio Scotland on 93.1 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Dumfries & Galloway on 103.0 FM. The town is served by the local newspapers, Dumfries & Galloway Standard and the Dumfries Courier which publishes on Fridays. T Kirkcudbright is represented in the South of Scotland Football League by St Cuthbert Wanderers FC . It was founded by parishioners of St Cuthbert Catholic Church. The club's best-known former players are Bob McDougall , Billy Halliday and David Mathieson . The first stage from Glasgow of
800-612: The town between their exhumation at Lindisfarne and reinterment at Chester-le-Street . John Spottiswoode , in his account of religious houses in Scotland, mentions that the Franciscans , or Grey Friars, had been established at Kirkcudbright from the 12th century. John Balliol was in possession of the ancient castle at Castledykes in the late 13th century and Edward I of England is said to have stayed here in 1300 during his war against Scotland. In 1455 Kirkcudbright became
832-588: Was built between 1625 and 1629 and served not only as the tolbooth , but also the council offices, the burgh and sheriff courts, the criminal prison and the debtors' prison. One of the most famous prisoners was John Paul Jones , founder of the United States Navy, who was born in Kirkbean . The Tolbooth was superseded as the county's main administrative building by a new courthouse at 85 High Street, built in 1788 and rebuilt in 1868, which then served as
864-517: Was built on the site. After defeat at the Battle of Towton , Henry VI of England crossed the Solway Firth in August 1461 to land at Kirkcudbright in support of Queen Margaret at Linlithgow . The town for some time withstood a siege in 1547 from the English commander Sir Thomas Carleton but, after the surrounding countryside had been overrun, was compelled to surrender. Kirkcudbright Tolbooth
896-425: Was demolished leaving only its chapel and on the site an L-plan castle was built. The chapel is now called Greyfriars Church. Construction of MacLellan's Castle began around 1577, instigated by Thomas. The work is commonly assumed to date to 1582 based on the year being carved into a stone panel above the entrance. Despite never being finished in its entirety, it was home to MacLellan's descendants until 1752 when it
928-541: Was designed by Edinburgh architect James Newlands (1813–1871) who later went on to be the first Borough Engineer for Liverpool where he designed and built the first integrated sewerage system in the world in 1848. The school building was rebuilt, retaining the Italianate tower and façade in 1933 by William A MacKinnell, (1871–1940). He was the County Architect for Kirkcudbrightshire and built many schools in
960-414: Was handed over to the state in 1912 – and is now under the guardianship of Historic Environment Scotland . MacLellan's Castle is laid out in an L-plan, consisting of two wings meeting at right angles. This type of tower house is typical of Scottish architecture and often dates from 1540–1680. One wing runs north–south and the other east–west; they meet in the southwest corner. The simple 'L' shape
992-406: Was sold to Sir Robert Maxwell. By this time the castle was in a state of ruin and the roof had collapsed. Thirty years later, Maxwell sold MacLellan Castle to Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk . In MacGibbon and Ross ' 1887 work, The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland , the authors remarked "the whole building is a mass of ivy, giving it the appearance of a huge haystack, of
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1024-517: Was the residence of the MacLellan family from whom it derived its name. The family sold the castle in 1752, and from 1782 to 1912 it was held by the Earls of Selkirk . Today, the site is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland . In 1569 Thomas MacLellan of Bombie was given the site of a ruined Greyfriars monastery in the town of Kirkcudbright. The monastery, which was built in around 1455,
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